In a few weeks, 14-year-old Derek Jacobs of Boca Raton, Fla., will have a computer chip implanted in his left arm.
A doctor will inject it through a syringe, into an anesthetized area, probably near his shoulder. There, the radio frequency chip will act as a sort of "human bar code," identifying Derek through his skin to anyone nearby equipped with an appropriate electronic reading device.
And while Derek is likely to be asked repeatedly about issues of privacy, his decision to "get chipped" has nothing to do with politics, or with Orwellian philosophy. It's more a matter of passion. The eighth-grader loves technology, his parents say. And he loves his father even more.
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